Friday, January 27, 2017

The Making of a Disciple

There should be no question in all of our minds that Jesus’
command to His church (to you and me) was to “Go, and Make Disciples of All
Nations, Baptizing them . . . and Teaching them to observe all things that I
have commanded. . .”This command of our
Lord is found in the Gospel of Matthew 28:19. It comes from the One who is the Only Begotten
Son of God and who has “all authority . . . in heaven and on earth,” and the
One who promises to be with us in this process “to the end of the age.”

The operative words in this command from Jesus begin with
the word “Go,” which means that this must be a conscious and intentional effort
and not a passive "wait-for-them-to-come-to-you" attitude. It calls us to seek
and find those separated from God and bring them into relationship with Him.
The second operative words are “Make Disciples.” This means: Followers, invite
people to “come and see” Jesus, to come and meet Jesus, to come and consider
His words and His promises of abundant and eternal life, here and now and
forever. A Disciple is one who follows Jesus in order to learn from Him and not
someone that has it all perfect already.

The third operative words are “Baptizing them” in the name
of the Holy Triune God, identifying themselves with Jesus Christ and marking this
new faith and commitment in a public and confessional baptism with water, and
lastly, “Teaching them” all things that Jesus has commanded that we should know and
do. This is a process that would take all the rest of our lives. We must see
the process of being Disciples and of Making Disciples as one, for we cannot be
or do what we ourselves are not being or are not doing. Each of us must
consider seriously how we are approaching our own Discipleship, as well as how
we are allowing God to use us to Make Disciples of others. Discipleship does
not happen by accident—it has to be intentional, planned out and relational.

I recently read in a brochure from LifeWay the following “8
Discipleship Attributes” and I want to share them with you for your personal
consideration:

1- Bible Engagement:

2- Obeying God and Denying self
3- serving God and others
4- Sharing Christ
5- Exercising faith
6- Seeking God
7- Building Relationships
8- UnashamedHow are you doing in your personal Discipleship in each of
these areas? Are you growing in your knowledge of God (Father, Son and Holy
Spirit)? Are you doing what Jesus has commissioned you to do? Are you in a relationship
with someone you could mentor and disciple? Come, let us follow Jesus together. Get involved in being a Disciple and in Making Disciples.